Okowa denies misappropriating Delta funds

Immediate past Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has said there is no truth in allegations against him, especially the misappropriation of the state’s 13 per cent derivation funds during his eight years as governor.

Recall that the former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark, had accused Okowa of spending state funds to fund the last Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential elections.

But Okowa said the elder statesman lied against him and his party and urged him to stop “disparaging his eight years of good governance.”

Okowa, who reacted via his spokesman, Mr. Olise Ifeajika, said the elder statesman goofed in all the issues he raised, and wondered why he was always against successive PDP administrations in the state and sponsoring campaigns of calumny to pull down former governors, instead of engaging them in a “father and son” relationship.

According to Ifeajika, it is high time the foremost Ijaw leader bothered about what he would be remembered for, rather than bringing past leaders to public opprobrium.

He said: “For the elder statesman, whom we rever and place in high esteem, to have asked Okowa, who diligently appropriated the finances of the state as governor, to come and account for the eight years allocation to the state, was not salutary.”

He also decried allegation that the former governor owns the controversial Premium Bank in Asaba, noting: “We know Okowa to be a medical doctor turned politician. He is not a businessman. He didn’t study banking and finance. So, to tie the ownership of one particular bank in a desperate bid to run him down, is, again, unfortunate and uncharitable to his quality service delivery.”